


Tutoring Out Of Spite

by DiamondWings



Series: Whites And Colours DO Mix [2]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: A lost bet, Alternate Universe - College/University, Bad Boy Seo Changbin, Good Boy Kim Seungmin, Kim Seugmin does not want to admit his feelings, Kim Seungmin is also blind, M/M, Not really but he really should have realized Changbin likes him sooner, Pining, Tutoring out of spite, idiots to lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:22:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,195
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28316715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiamondWings/pseuds/DiamondWings
Summary: Seungmin does NOT have a crush on Changbin. Except, he does. But Changbin is everything he's not, and they just don't fit! Even more so because Changbin is mean and thinks it's fun to waste Seungmin's time by asking him to tutor him as a result of a lost bet. Hah! Seungmin will show him how fun it is to waste someone else's time! He will tutor him, alright! (And it has nothing to do with wanting to spend more time alone with Changbin! Not at al!)
Relationships: Bang Chan/Lee Minho | Lee Know, Han Jisung | Han/Hwang Hyunjin, Kim Seungmin/Seo Changbin, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Series: Whites And Colours DO Mix [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2073843
Comments: 4
Kudos: 110





	Tutoring Out Of Spite

**Author's Note:**

  * For [seungbinnies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/seungbinnies/gifts).



> This story is a gift from [my_misty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/my_misty/pseuds/my_misty) for [seungbinnies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/seungbinnies)

Jeongin elbowed Seungmin in the ribs.

“You’re staring. Again.” He deadpanned as Seungmin jumped, averting his gaze.

“I’m not.” He mumbled.

“You are.”

“Am not.”

“Are.”

“Not!”

“What are you not doing?”

The bickering friends looked up to see Hyunjin joining them on their bench, where they were catching a few precious rays of sunlight between lectures.

“He’s staring.” Jeongin answered before Seungmin could.

“I’m not!”

Hyunjin turned, searching with his gaze the general direction in which Seungmin had been looking before, until-

“Oh. I see. You definitely  _ were _ staring!”

Seungmin half whined, half groaned, burying his face in his hands. “I hate you. Both of you. I’m getting myself new friends.”

“Psh.” Jeongin scoffed. “If you would just admit to your crush already, you wouldn’t have to go that far. But good luck, I guess. See if anyone else is willing to put up with your surly ass.”

Seungmin lifted his head just to glare at Jeongin, possibly more, but he didn’t get to since Hyunjin sat down to his other side, slinging an arm around him and pulling him into a too-tight side-hug.

“Oh Minnie, so in love…! Why don’t you just talk to him?”

“I’m not  _ not  _ talking to him, what are  _ you _ talking about?” Seungmin grumbled, realizing too late that he’d fallen right into Hyunjin’s trap. Jeongin realized that, too, but for once, he bit his tongue and said nothing.

“You know what I meant. He’s really not that scary, you should just tell him-”

“Tell him  _ what?”  _ Seungmin interrupted Hyunjin with a glare that shut the other up. Annoyed, he threw off Hyunjin’s arm and got up. “There is nothing to  _ tell him. _ I know plenty of other ways to make a fool out of myself, thank you very much. I don’t need to add to it.”

With that, he gathered his bag and started to walk off briskly, but he stopped after a few steps to turn back around and glare at his friends. “If any of you so much as breathe one single word of this to anyone else, I swear…!” Leaving the threat open, he finally stormed off.

***

It was ridiculous, he knew that himself. His crush on Changbin was all levels of pathetic in every book, ever. But could he help it? No, of course not. And that was probably what pissed Seungmin off the most.

There was just  _ no way _ , ever, that Changbin would reciprocate the crush he’d had on him ever since Minho-hyung had introduced them to his boyfriend's friend group, back when it had become clear that he and Chan-hyung definitely  _ fit  _ and would be a thing for longer. But him and Changbin, they just didn’t  _ fit _ . Changbin was everything he wasn’t: cool, mostly. He had a life, one that didn’t revolve around academics. He did everything one would put under the category “fun”, without a care in the world. He had interesting stories to tell, and so many skills Seungmin could barely count them, and yet he was sure he had only just learned about the surface level of them. 

Changbin was… Otherworldly. 

And Seungmin was… Normal. Boring. Bland. 

And the thing was, Seungmin  _ liked _ being normal, boring, bland. That was, until he met Changbin. And now he resented his normal, boring, bland life. Was he ready to change it, though? 

No.

Not over a crush. Not for some random boy who wouldn’t look twice at him if they weren’t locked in the same room by their friends. Not for anyone, really; but he would most definitely not compromise his future over a dumb college crush on a Bad Boy. 

That resolution didn’t change that it still  _ hurt _ , to be constantly around the other thanks to their friends, talking with him, laughing with him, playing around with him, bantering. Just as friends, though. 

For moments at a time, he could pretend, pretend there could be more, when Changbin hugged him after their team had won a game with the others, when Changbin leaned on him after drinking one too many shots - he was a sleepy drunk, and  _ definitely _ not cute, at all! No, not cute! Absolutely… adorable, fuck, shit, dammit, Seungmin was so whipped! - when Changbin smiled at him as if he’d hung the stars.... But then again, Changbin was naturally smiley and held the galaxies in his eyes, and just because he smiled in Seungmin’s  _ direction,  _ that didn’t mean he was smiling at Seungmin, specifically!

That was Seungmin's internal monologue, until, one day, the unthinkable happened, shooting his hopes as high as the sky for a moment: Changbin came looking for him, waiting in front of his lecture hall for him to come out.

“Seungmin! Over here!” He called out as soon as Seungmin stepped through the doors, and Seungmin’s heart jumped in his chest. 

“Hey.” He greeted Seungmin as soon as he’d made his way over. And there it was, that smile, the smile that rendered Seungmin completely useless. “Do you have a moment?”

“Sure.” For Changbin, he would make a moment even if he didn’t have one; most times, anyway.

“Uh, I wanted to ask you something. And, it’s probably going to be unexpected, and you can totally say no if you don’t want to, I’d totally understand- I’m rambling.” Changbin cut himself off, looking a little sheepish. Adorably so, Seungmin thought, but he kept that to himself, of course.

“What is it? Ask away!” He put on a cheery, encouraging front, carefully masking how his heart was doing somersaults and his mind was anticipating the most unlikely scenarios. Would Changbin ask him out on a date? Oh please, brain, shut up, don’t be ridiculous! But what if-

“Would you tutor me?”

Seungmin’s brain came to a sudden halt.

“Uh, what?”

“Tutor me. You- You’re a really good student, and I could really use some help in, uh, Advanced Literature, and you-”

Seungmin shook his head to clear it. Had he heard that right? “Excuse me, what? Tutor? You? Why?”

Changbin seemed to shrink a little.

“Yeah, I, uhm… I’m not doing too hot, and since you- I mean, it’s ok if you don’t want to. Just forget I asked, you probably have better things to do anyway…”

Seungmin failed at clearing his mind, and nothing Changbin was saying was helping with the darker tangent his thoughts were taking.

“You’re joking, right?” He asked eventually. 

“No!” Changbin hastily answered, but Seungmin didn’t hear him.

“You lost a bet or something, and now you have to ask me for tutoring sessions. Was that it?”

Changbin didn’t answer immediately, and Seungmin’s heart broke with every second of silence.

“There-... The bet was only about having to ask  _ today _ , not that I had to ask- You know what, nevermind…” Changbin slumped, ready to give up, but Seungmin’s hurt had morphed to anger in the meantime. Petty anger.

“No, it’s alright. I’ll tutor you.” He agreed, deathly calm. “When and where?”

Changbin’s jaw dropped. “Y-you will? Really?”

“Yes, sure.” Seungmin nodded, still perfectly calm and serious. “Since you need it. Once a week or twice? I’m free most evenings.”

If Changbin and whoever he did that bet with thought it was funny to play with him and his time and feelings for a bet, he would pay them back by stealing at least Changbin’s own time and let him struggle with the awkwardness of coming up with a way to get out of the deal eventually. At least that was what he told himself.

“O-ok! Uhm, once, maybe, for now? And… Are you free today?”

“Sure. Seven at the library?”

Changbin nodded. “Yes! Sounds good! Thanks! I, uhm, gotta go; class! See you later, Seungmin!” He hastily bid his goodbyes before sprinting off. 

Now alone in the hallway, Seungmin slumped back against the wall, thumping his head against it softly. What had he gotten himself into?

***

To say Seungmin was conflicted after that first tutoring session was an understatement. 

His goal when agreeing to the tutoring sessions had been revenge; at least, officially. If that meant he also got some one-on-one time with Changbin out of it, even if he was mad at him, well, that was a bonus. 

He had not expected, however, that Changbin was  _ actually  _ interested in what he had to say and explain about the class they both shared, being quite the attentive and focussed student over-all. Nor did he expect Changbin to pull out a pair of glasses (“My eyes always get irritated by the lenses this late in the day, so I have to wear glasses to read.”) and look absolutely soft and adorable with them; despite the leather jacket and pants combo and biker boots decorated with silver chains and buckles.

Before he knew it, and without ever intending to, the tutoring session became fun, even, and by the end of it, Changbin even insisted on walking Seungmin back to his dorm building so he wouldn’t have to walk alone in the darkness and cold of the night.

“Thank you so much for taking the time to tutor me. I feel like I learned a lot today; more than all semester in class so far.”

Seungmin raised an eyebrow, but refrained from commenting. Maybe now would be the time Changbin decided that he had learned enough today and didn’t need any further sessions, his brain provided unhelpfully, ruining the mood.

“Do you think we could do another session this week? Thursday, maybe? Friday is the get-together at Chan-hyung’s place, but, uh, if you can’t on Thursday, we could do it before that and join the others later?”

Seungmin was screaming internally; Changbin didn’t want to end the sessions but have more? He would forsake time with his friends for tutoring with  _ him?  _ He wasn’t embarrassed to show up in front of both their friend groups with him, the certified nerd? What was going  _ on?! _

“I’ll… I’ll let you know. I have to check.” Seungmin croaked out; more like, he had to scream internally in peace and wrap his head around the possibility first before contemplating putting it into practice.

***

Seungmin agreed to another tutoring session in the end, and he chose Friday, just to see if Changbin would pull through. And Changbin did, they went together to the gathering of their two friend groups at Chan and Felix’s dorm from the library, and Changbin didn’t seem to have a problem at all with the others knowing he’d just spent the time before that alone with Seungmin. And Seungmin, well, he’d rather die than let anyone know how much it affected him, and he was an excellent actor when he put his mind to it!

And like that, he acted for ages, pretending it didn’t affect him, how Changbin would smile at him, how he was the first to help him out when he asked for something during their gatherings, how conversation came so easy with him, how Changbin always included him in whatever they were doing and made sure he had fun, how Changbin more often than not sat next to him, and as soon as alcohol was involved, dozed off against him.

Their tutoring sessions, they were for revenge, he kept reminding himself, but he had to utter that reminder more and more often. They were definitely not for pure enjoyment, no! Just revenge! And if he did enjoy them, spending all that time alone with Changbin, well, no one had to know. 

Except, eventually, he needed someone to know. He couldn’t keep it all bottled up any longer, he needed to vent to someone, let it all out, have a good crying session.

But who with?

Hyunjin? His roommate was too caught up in his new romance with his supposed arch nemesis, Jisung, to have much time for Seungmin these days.

Jeongin? The younger had never expressed any remote interest in anything regarding dating and romance and visibly shuddered when confronted by it, and Seungmin did not want to make him uncomfortable.

Minho? Minho was of great help most of the time, great at giving advice, great at being there for his friends. But his active help was not what Seungmin needed right now, he didn’t need anyone to corner Changbin and threaten him to finally put a ring on it, or else!

So, Seungmin considered one last option: Chan, who had become as dear of a hyung to him as Minho had been for a while now.

His decision made, he wasted no time heading down the familiar path to the building Chan and Felix’s dorm was in. On the way already, just while thinking about what he wanted to tell Chan-hyung, what he wanted to get off his chest, the waterworks started, and a few angry, sad, desperate, and hopeful tears managed to fight their way past his hold and slip down his cheeks, from where they were hastily wiped away.

When he knocked on the door of his destination, he wasn’t crying anymore, but his eyes were still suspiciously shiny. And, just his luck, it wasn’t even Chan who opened the door for him, but Felix. And Felix caught on immediately to the telltale sign of tears in his eyes.

“Minnie? Oh no, what’s wrong?” He quickly pulled him into the apartment and into his arms, where Seungmin sagged. 

Felix. Felix would be a good option to cry his woes out to, too.

Just as he wanted to start, however, a voice he knew all too well reached his ears, and while his eyes widened, his throat ran dry and he wouldn’t have been able to produce a sound if he tried.

“I should never have listened to Felix and Jisung and asked him for those tutoring sessions. It’s hell, just being there with him, just the two of us, and see him act so- so  _ indifferent _ to me. It’s different when we’re all together and I can just pretend he’s ignoring me because he’s distracted by everyone else, but when it’s just the two of us… It hurts. He’ll never like me back, I don’t know what I was  _ thinking _ , that he could ever-... I’m just some kind of dumb lowlife to him, aren’t I? Some selfish airhead who doesn’t care about anything and anyone except himself, not someone worth letting into his life, never mind heart.”

_ “No!” _ Seungmin whispered, choked up, in the hallway. Slowly, he and Felix pulled apart, Felix giving him a sheepish look. Seungmin’s hold on Felix tightened for a second, but then he let go, ready to set this straight; even if he had no idea what he was doing or how.

“You’re wrong.” He opened with instead of a greeting when he stepped into the living room doorway, causing both Chan and Changbin to spin around, surprised. “You’re not dumb, you’re not a lowlife, not an airhead, and definitely not selfish. I’m just insecure and thought someone as cool, and- and fun, adventurous, active, free-spirited… someone like you, could never like someone like me back. So I put up walls, to protect myself.”

Changbin gaped at him, looking somewhat frightened, but also starstruck and incredulous, while a knowing smile danced on Chan’s lips.

“Well… I think we better let you talk this one out on your own. Lix?” He got up, and Felix nodded. Before Changbin and Seungmin knew it, the other two had left them alone.

“You w-what?” Changbin broke the ensuing silence once they were alone. “You- you like me?”

Seungmin nodded, finally stepping further into the room and sitting down on the couch next to Changbin, through with a little room still left between them.

“I do. I have since we first met, all those months ago. Or, well, it was just a crush at first. But then- You asked me for those tutoring sessions, and when I heard about the bet, I was so mad… So I agreed out of spite. But then… I played myself. I only started liking you more and more the more I got to know you and spend time with you, and- And I had to hide it even more, and it  _ hurt _ . So much that- I actually came here right now because it’s become too much and I had to let it all out and I was hoping I could have a good crying session with Chan-hyung.” He chuckled, though it was thick with emotion.

Changbin looked appalled, yet at the same time somehow elated.

“I would never, Seungmin. I would never play with someone else’s feelings like that, or waste another’s time like that. I am so, so sorry you thought that! I should have explained it better, back then, but I was so nervous to ask you in the first place, and when you agreed… My brain just stopped functioning altogether.”

Seungmin laughed, and this time a fat tear did roll down his cheek.

“So, we were both just being stupid this whole time?”

Changbin chuckled, reaching out hesitantly to wipe away the tear on Seungmin’s face. When Seungmin didn’t move away, he finally did, infinitely gentle, cupping his cheek in his hand then. Seungmin leaned into the touch, finding Changbin’s gaze with his own in a shared look that was so sickeningly sweet he would have gagged if he’d seen it on anyone else.

“I suppose we were. Can we stop that now? Being stupid, I mean. Because… I really like you,  _ because  _ you are you and exactly the way you are, and not despite of it. And…” Changbin broke off with a sigh, not knowing how to put his convoluted thoughts into words now that it mattered. “I’m sorry… See, this is why I need help with literature, words just-... tend to fail me.”

Seungmin chuckled, finally covering Changbin’s hand with his own, intertwining their fingers as he pulled it away from his face and Changbin closer.

“What about actions? You’re better with those, right? Why don’t you show me instead?”

Changbin’s jaw dropped and a hint of panic (the gay kind) flitted over his expression.

“You mean-?”

“Can I have a kiss?”

Changbin malfunctioned, but thankfully, just for a moment. “Y-yes! Absolutely!”

And then, he leaned in, Seungmin meeting him halfway. 

It was a gentle kiss, tentative even, somewhat shaky.

Seungmin found out why it was shaky when they pulled apart again, and he saw Changbin covertly wipe at his eyes.

“Sorry, it’s- I’m just happy. This happens.” Changbin explained. “I’m not the Bad Boy you might think I am, after all.” 

Seungmin chuckled, bumping Changbin’s foot with his own. “I kind of figured.” He nodded at Changbin’s feet, or his socks, more precisely; pink socks, decorated with a cartoon figure that looked like a pink bunny with a pig nose. 

Changbin laughed quietly, too.

“I like pink, ok? And cute things. Like you.”

Seungmin snorted, rolling his eyes.

“That was terrible. You need a lot more tutoring, I feel. Until then, let’s stick to actions, ok?” 

“Ok.” Changbin agreed, leaning in again for another kiss. And this time, it was less shaky, deeper, longer lasting. And hopefully, there would be many more from now on, even if they might distract Changbin from focusing on improving his literary prowess.


End file.
